Sriharikota, India — 18 May 2025
For a variety of reasons, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) suffered a minor yet definitive reverse when on May 18, 2025, it failed to deliver its 101st satellite mission from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
The launch vehicle taking off from the launch pad veered off course several minutes into its flight and was no longer in touch with mission control. ISRO, in an official press release, said that the mission suffered an “anomaly in the third stage” of the flight sequence. The first lift-off and boost stages of the vehicle worked as planned; however an anomaly occurred in the operation of the space vehicle at the time of satellite integration.
What Went Wrong?
At exactly 0923 hrs IST, the PSLV-C58 lifted off on schedule under clear skies, with the primary cargo being meant primarily for high-resolution Earth imaging. Among the co-passengers were nanosatellites made by students as well as experimental payloads from startups and research institutions. ISRO announced 11 minutes after take-off that the telemetry data from the launch had been lost. Mission director Dr. Anil Bhaskar then said that the mission did not reach its desired orbit.
Although stages 1 and 2 worked as they were supposed to, we saw some deflection during stage 3 that caused us to lose some mission objectives. The rocket failed to put the payload into the planned Sun-synchronous orbit,” Bhaskar said at a news conference.
National and Global Implications The mission failure is a rare setback for ISRO, which has tasted success on its space missions, which are among the cheapest in the world, unlike its illustrious missions such as the Chandrayaan and the Mars Orbiter.
That said, this failure is notable considering the growing competition from international private entities – like SpaceX, Rocket Lab, and China’s rapidly growing space industry.
While one failed mission does not compromise ISRO’s credibility, it might affect international customers who rely on India to launch their satellites into space, industry analysts say.
Political and Scientific Responses “We are not going to sit down crying! India’s science Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh said ,We are not going to sit down and cry, they have come a long way. There would be many more missions and much more to achieve.” “Every good journey has bumps. Our scientists are the best in the world. We will look into this event & emerge stronger “ Singh on X (formerly Twitter).
The space agencies world wide like NASA, JAXA, and ESA also sent out statements of support as the agencies and everyone involved understands this is the nature of space missions and they are hard and complicated!
What Happens Next?
ISRO officials said an internal failure review board has started- investigations. Preliminary data indicates the malfunction may have been caused by a defective pressurization valve or perhaps an on board software error. A fuller report is due in the coming weeks. Despite the setback, ISRO has provisions for future missions, and is at least pressing on with upcoming missions, including Gaganyaan’s uncrewed test flight, a satellite, the result of a collaboration with Australia, for ocean monitoring, and multiple small satellite launches planned for later this year. The organization also recommitted itself to transparency, and pledged it would share the failure report with the public once it is completed.
Past Failures and Recoveries ISRO last major setback was in 2017, when the PSLV-C39 mission suffered a failure of the heat shield. The agency soon recovered and went on to successfully complete more than a dozen missions in the year to come. After the Chandraayan-2 lander crash of 2019, ISRO rebounded with the triumphant Chandraayan-3 moon landing of 2023. “Such setbacks are inherent in such a big mission,” Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, ISRO’s former chairman, said. “What counts is how we learn from them and how we innovate better.”
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